No single factor perpetuates the negative behavior of children more than engagement. Children have successfully engaged their parents when the parent, in response to the child’s behavior, becomes emotional and wordy. When a child’s behavior results in engagement—that is, when a parent reacts wordily and emotionally—that behavior has been unintentionally reinforced and will likely be repeated. It is this engagement which leads to the single most common complaint of parents regarding their children—that they are argumentative.
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